Information can now be exchanged in a variety of ways that were not possible, or at least practicable, only a short time ago. Moreover, these news forms of communication are becoming available to a majority of the world's population rather than only to a relative handful of scientists and engineers.
One popular form of modern communication is electronic mail. Electronic mail, or email for short, began with the transmission of short text messages back and forth between different users connected to a large mainframe computer. As computers systems evolved, large mainframe computers were replaced by smaller computers connected together to form a network. Each user then had an actual computer rather than a display terminal. Though most of these individual computers were far smaller than the mainframe, the aggregate computing power actually increased with the migration from centralized to distributed computing systems. The network allowed its various component computers to share computing resources and memory, and of course to exchange email. Email applications (programs) were developed that were ‘user-friendly’ so as to allow their use with very little training. Email rapidly became a popular form of communication.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a personal computer (PC) 100 such as one that may be used to send and receive email messages. PC 100 includes computer 105 and monitor 110. In this illustration, computer 105 is a housing for all of the internal working components (not shown) of PC 100, and provides a plurality of connection ports (also not shown) for hooking up various peripheral devices. One peripheral device of importance is monitor 110, which includes a display 115 that provides a visual user interface. The monitor 110 also houses the electronic components that are necessary to produce a visual image on display 115 from information provided by computer 105. The information is provided via cable 120, which connects the two components. A user may, for example, view on display 115 email messages that have been received, and those that are being composed for transmission.
Another user interface of PC 100 is keyboard 125, which is actually a collection of switch-activating keys modeled after a typewriter keyboard. The keys 130 of keyboard 125 are used type in, or enter, information, for example the text of an email, into computer 105 Keyboard 125 is connected to computer 105 for this purpose by cable 135. As will be explained, PC 100 may serve as a home node in connection with receiving email in a communication network, desktop manager that may be remotely reconfigured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Initially, however, the general process of sending and receiving an email will be set out to provide an environmental context for the present invention.
As mentioned above, for a time email was limited to the office or company environment. Distributed computing led to wider computer access, but connections to others outside of the computer system were generally limited. This changed with the introduction of widespread Internet access. The Internet is a worldwide network of many computer networks that communicate with each other using a common communications protocol. The Internet was originally developed as a military technology, and as a way for colleges and research institutions to share information and computing resources. Eventually, however, use of the Internet by the general public was permitted. Internet service providers (ISPs) eventually installed servers connected to the Internet through which ordinary consumers could access Internet-available resources. The development of the World Wide Web made many of these resources easy to access, especially using newly-developed Web-Browser applications. Email users were no longer limited to sending messages within their own computer systems. Even better email applications made it easier for consumers with little training to compose and send emails, and email became ubiquitous.
Email (or for that matter other communication-service) users are often referred to as subscribers because they subscribe to a network that provides the Internet access they require. Herein the terms user and subscriber will be used interchangeably. When one subscriber wishes to send email to another, the process is typically very easy so long as the intended recipient's address is known. Using any of a number of widely-available email applications, the user simply chooses the “new mail” option, often by “clicking” on an appropriate graphic user interface (GUI). The user is them presented with a template including fields for entering the intended recipient's address, a brief subject, and the message itself. The address is required, of course, but may be filled in with reference to an address book. The address book is a listing of names and email addresses and possible other information such as telephone and fax numbers. The address book may also include additional information such as the capability of the user's email device or a preferred or mandatory format for received emails (which may or may not be visible to the address book owner). This latter information is useful because while emails may be simple text files, they may also include static or even animated graphics. Of course, such emails need not be sent to a user who lacks a device on which they can be displayed.
Where the address of the recipient is not known, it may be found in a directory accessible to the sender through the same network as is used for sending the email itself. In many cases companies and other organizations may a list of their employees or members available publicly or selectively on Web site. An email address listed on a Web page may itself be a GUI that when selected brings up a new mail template that already includes the addressee's name in the appropriate field.
An email can, and often is sent to more than one intended recipient. The email template can accommodate almost any number of addresses and can usually categorize them according to whether they are addressees or copyees. (As with pen and ink correspondence, a “copy” of a message is virtually identical to the original, but the categorization implies something of the sender's intention in including any particular recipient.) In many cases, the sender can elect whether the individual recipients will be able to see a list of all of the intended recipients, although a designation of someone as a “blind” copyee will normally ensure that their name is not disclosed to the others.
However it is initiated, the completed email message including one or more destination addresses, a body, and usually though not necessarily a subject is sent by activating an appropriate GUI. This will normally result in the email being transmitted immediately, assuming network access is available. The subscriber typically has other options, including saving the email for editing and sending later, or indicating that the email should be transmitted at a specific time or on the occurrence of a specified event. If network access is not available, an access attempt may be initiated automatically, or the user may be informed that the email cannot be sent at that time.
Once an email is sent by a subscriber, it is received in an associated server, which in turn routes it toward servers used by the intended recipients, as indicated by their address. At the recipient's server, it will typically be stored until it is downloaded to the actual user device at which it may be read, or until the occurrence of some other specified event. How quickly it will be downloaded frequently depends on the type of Internet connection available to the recipient.
Those recipients with dial-up connections, where communication with the server takes place over a conventional phone line, the email cannot be downloaded until such a connection is made. Increasingly, subscribers use a form of high-speed connection that may be continually in place. In this configuration, email downloads are often performed automatically on a periodic basis. However it occurs, however, an email is available for reading at the subscriber's device as soon as it is downloaded.
Another new form of communication, using radio telephones, has became popular as well. A radio telephone is simply a portable radio (transmitter-receiver) equipped with a standard telephone keypad, which can be used to place and receive calls through an appropriate radiotelephone network. The network typically includes a network of fixed-location antennas for communicating with the radio telephones. The antennas are spread throughout the network coverage area so that the radiotelephone is (within the area) always only a short distance from one or more antennas. This arrangement allows communication over the air interface to be relatively low-power, which not only reduces the needed battery capacity for the radio, but also enables channel frequencies to be used for multiple network transmissions as long as they are not too close together. The area defined by the communication range of an antenna is called a cell, giving rise to the popular name of “cellular telephone”, or simply “cell phone”.
Cell phones have become useful for receiving both voice and data communications. Email transmission did not immediately migrate to cellular networks, however, for a number of reasons. For one thing, cell phones became popular with the general public somewhat before email use became prevalent outside closed office environments. More importantly, however, cellular networks could not instantly be adapted to sending email messages to mobile users. Somewhat difficult to transmit through a network more suited for voice communication, there was also the factor that subscribers were basically equipped with mobile telephones, some of which had LED or LCD displays that would display at most a handful of telephone numbers at one time.
Mobile subscribers having cell phones, however, wished to be able to receive email while they were away form the home or office. A solution was provided in the form of a handheld mobile device that could more easily accommodate both voice and email forms of communications through a specialized network. FIG. 2 is an illustration of a handheld mobile device 200 that may be used for both email and voice communication. Handheld mobile device 200 includes a display 205, such as an LCD (liquid-crystal display) that is capable of displaying not only multiple lines of text, but graphic images as well. A keyboard 210 includes alphanumeric keys 215 and call control keys 220 for the entry of text messages and beginning and ending a wireless call, respectively. Scroll key 225 is a thumbwheel for manipulation of the image on display 105. Function keys 230 execute a variety of operations, depending on the state in which handheld device 200 is currently in. Words or icons presented on display 205 adjacent to each of the function keys 230 are used to indicate the keys' current function. The operation executed by activating either of function keys 230 is usually displayed on display 205. Speaker 240 and microphone 235 facilitate voice communication.
Handheld mobile device 200 may be capable of other functions as well. In emulation of similar applications developed for PCs, small electronic devices were provided with organizer programs that could be used for managing and displaying appointment calendars, address books and similar functions. Often called personal digital assistants (PDAs), such devices could make use of display screens and keyboards present on handheld mobile devices such as mobile device 200. Despite having all of these capabilities, however, handheld device 200 did not entirely replace PC 100. To remain mobile, its display and keyboard must be limited in size and therefore not always as convenient to use.
The two devices may be used in combination, however, to great advantage. PC 100, for example, is installed in a fixed location such as the user's home or office to send and receive email, and perhaps to maintain the user's organizer data, such as the appointment calendar and address book. Handheld device 200 is carried when the user is not at the fixed location to have access to the same functions. Email addressed to the user is selectively forwarded to the handheld device 200 so that it can be read immediately. The same organizer data kept on PC 100 is also kept on handheld device 200, and the two devices are connected from time to time to synchronize the data. Because of the way the two devices work together, it is also advantageous to be able to from time to time connect them through a communication network. When this occurs, the PC 100 may be thought of as a network home node, and the handheld device 200 as a network mobile node.
As will be explained in more detail, PC 100 includes application software for not only receiving email, but for managing it as well. Managing email encompasses storing it in an organized fashion and selectively forwarding it to handheld mobile device 200 (or some other address). Before the user leaves the fixed location where PC 100 is installed, the user may set certain parameters for performing these functions. There is currently no way, however, for the user to alter those parameters before returning to do so at the PC 100 itself. There is a need, therefore, for a manner of reconfiguring the manager of the home node from the mobile handheld device. The present invention provides just such a solution.